Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Bloody Hands ❯ Vengence and Serenity ( Chapter 3 )

"They're dead. They're all messed up."
--Night of the Living Dead--

___________________________________________________________________________ ____________

Van Fanel, small and foolish Van Fanel, laid over the windowsill where Chesta's ghost had been. He was on his knees, head in his arms, hunched over. Poor, poor Chesta. Was that what he thought now? Was that what that damned war had done to him? Made him think that everything a person loved would be ripped away from them?

<don't talk to me about caring about something>

<that's what you get when you care about something>

And he hadn't sounded bitter or sarcastic at all. He had really thought that Migel's death was some sort of punishment for loving him. Punishment for that forbidden gender, and for breaking that unspoken rule.

Migel Labariel. Yes, that was his name, Van remembered. He had been a good soldier, and Van hadn't been lying when he'd said it to Chesta, even though Chesta had hit him for it.

Migel Labariel.

He'd been a fighter. He'd fought in his Guymelef when it wasn't even in working condition. He'd stayed around to fight the Escaflowne when he could have easily escaped. And then, when salvation was so near that he could taste it in his mouth, hands had reached out of the darkness and crushed him. And Chesta. He'd loved Chesta, despite the unspoken rule, despite the forbidden gender. And Van admired Migel. He admired Migel now, because he knew how it felt, to love someone and not be able to tell them. He wished that he could have known Migel. He'd looked at him as Zaibach scum before, but now Van realized that Migel Labariel had been more of a man than he would ever be.

The strangely sweet, thick musky smell of death invaded the room.

Van felt his heartbeat through his lips, through his fingertips.

Oh god...deliver me deliver me deliver me deliver me deliver me deliver me deliver me deliver me

"Thank you.... for understanding Chesta."

Echo. The echo of a new voice faded through the room.

Van cautiously turned around, and was shocked at what he saw.

Migel Labariel was standing there, tall and straight, wearing thin, loose white pants and a baggy long-sleeved white shirt. The fabric was blowing around him, though there was no wind in the empty room. And he was wholly unlike the others. He was serene and peaceful, Van could tell. The calmness flowed out of Migel and into Van. It was the kind of feeling that made him want to close his eyes and smile, and it was the kind of peace he hadn't felt in a long, long time.

Migel's skin was honey-colored, the same color it had been when he was alive. His hair was shiny and chestnut, his eyes bright and blue. And no scars or maroon-colored blood marred his face. He was completely and perfectly beautiful, standing out like a rose among thorns in the desolate, gray, dreary room.

"Thank you for understanding Chesta," he said again.

Van stared up at Migel, wide-eyed. The brunette knelt down, long bangs blowing softly against his forehead.

"You... you... you're.... what are you?"

"I'm a ghost," Migel smirked.

"No...," Van said. "You're not... like the others."

"They haven't passed on."

"Nani?" Van asked softly.

"I've passed on. I've made my peace with the world, and with the gods."

"But you're here."

Migel smiled. "I wanted to thank you."

Van scoffed. "For what?"

"For understanding my Chesta."

"Did you forget that I killed him?"

Migel shook his head. "I've killed. Chesta has killed. We were all part of one big never ending tale."

"That's all it was? All it is? A tale?"

"One day you'll be forgiven, because now you're sorry. Everyone has a part to play in the story. I played the part of a soldier. You play the part of a king."

"I've never felt less like a king," Van said.

"One day you'll understand," Migel said.

Van looked up at Migel, pleading desperately with his garnet eyes.

"Please help me," he whispered. "They're driving me mad."

Migel's face fell sullen.

"I can't help you. They have to pass on. On their own. Until then they'll stay here."

"I'm sorry for killing them. I'd do anything to take it back."

"No," Migel said gently, "No, you wouldn't. Fate has its course, and you must let it run. People all over Gaia and Earth lose their lives every day. Everything is part of the tale. Everything affects everything else, everything has a delicate balance, and everything happens for a specific reason."

"Do people always come back? Do people always do what your colleagues are doing to me?" Van asked quietly.

Migel frowned. "No. It takes a certain type of person to come back after death like they have. Most people only have the ability to knock over a picture or whisper in the night or come as a vision in a dream."

"I killed them...is that what they want? Revenge? Is that what motivates them?"

Migel laughed a little. "The Dragonslayers had hearts of gold and balls of steel. Everything they do, they'll do it more outrageous, more extravagant, and more powerful than anyone else ever has. They can't kill you, the gods don't allow that. But obviously their spirits are strong enough to...well...." Migel eyed the bruises on Van's face.

"I wish I could have known you all...," Van dipped his head. "Chesta said I didn't know you, and he was right."

"And did Chesta know Zongi? Did I know the people of Fenalia? Did any of us ever know anything about the lives we interrupted?"

Van was silent, letting it sink in, and Migel continued.

"Give them time," the brunette said, standing up. "One day they'll see everything in a new light, and they'll be able to pass on. Right now they're stuck in their own lament, afraid and angry."

Van clenched his teeth.

"It's been a summer, a spring, and an autumn already. How much time do they need?" he asked.

"Have patience, Van. You can make it through this. One day their eyes will open and they'll realize that none of this will ease their pain."

"And when Chesta passes on...I think he's the closest to realizing... will you see him again?"

Though Van hadn't thought it possible, Migel's face radiated even more of the saintly glow as he smiled, so brightly and so contentedly. "Yes, I'll see him again."

"He thinks your death was a punishment for...," Van couldn't find the right words. ".... for forbidden love."

"Yes, I know. But you see," Migel said, "no love is forbidden. Love is the whole, and it conquers all. Rules, war, hate....," Migel blushed a little, "...gender..."

"Can't you visit him? Can't you come to him like you came to me?" Van asked.

Migel shook his head sadly. "Not until he passes on."

"Then I hope he passes on soon," Van said, and a smile tugged at his lips as he looked at Migel.

"Arigatou, Van."

Migel took a step backward.

"Are you leaving?!" Van called suddenly.

Migel nodded.

"Don't leave! Please...stay with me?" Van was desperate. He needed a friend. He needed someone to stop those voices from coming back. He needed someone to be with him when the rest of the Dragonslayers came back.

"I can't stay," Migel said.

"Then....take me with you?" Van whispered.

Migel shook his head. "Everything has a delicate balance. Your time hasn't come yet."

And then he faded away in a brilliant flash of white-yellow light before Van could say anything else.

Van picked up another off-white Zaibach file and opened it. It was a new one, one he hadn't opened. He realized that every time he opened one, it was like giving its ghost life. It was like opening the gate. But Van was willing to risk whatever happened when he opened the new file. He wanted to know the Dragonslayers, even if only as bloody, mangled apparitions that existed, when all was said and done, inside his own head.

He opened the file and stared at the papers before him.

'Name- Mercutio Urai
Birth- Red, 13th Moon
Birthplace- Fenalia
Hair- Brown
Eyes- Green
Height- 5'9"
Weight- 135'

"My god," Van whispered, "he was from Fenalia..."

'Personality- Extremely hyper, energetic, vulgar, loud, boisterous, out-going, courageous, rebellious'

"Hmmm..." Van smiled a little. This one was certainly different. This Mercutio didn't sound like anyone that would be ordered around by Dilandau. By any man, for that matter.

(it's like opening the gates)

'Oh god.... oh god....here it comes'

"HAAAAAAAAIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WAS WONDERING WHEN YOU WERE GOING TO OPEN MINE!!!!"

Van's heart hammered in his chest, thumping like a wild animal, threatening to beat right out of his ribcage.

'deliver me deliver me deliver me deliver me deliver me deliver me deliver me deliver me deliver me'

"I feel like a Guymelef. I feel like I could crush you in my bare hands!!"

Van's breath became quicker and heavier.

"You....can't....Migel said...you can't kill me...," Van gasped.

Mercutio laughed. It echoed through the room and rang in Van's ears like bells, rich and loud and overwhelming.

"I'll kill you if I want to kill you. The gods didn't stop you from killing me, and they won't stop me from killing you."

"I.... yes, they will...," Van said. He suddenly realized that he didn't remember this one.

"Which .... one were you?"

"NANI?!?!?!"

Van sucked in his breath.

"DON'T YOU REMEMBER ME?!"

Breathe. Breathe. Just breathe.

The ghost grabbed Van's chair and jerked it away with such force that Van sprawled backwards onto the floor. Mercutio slung the chair aside and looked down at the king below him. Van looked back up at him. He had incredibly messy brown hair, and a long, thin streak of maroon blood ran from his left temple to his jaw. The same maroon streaks were dried on his chin, coming out of his mouth, and smeared on his left cheek. On the right cheek were three green horizontal stripes of face paint, and in both of his ears hung two different earrings. In the left one, a gold hoop dangled, and in the right, a single animal tooth. Around Mercutio's neck was a necklace beaded with the same off-white animal teeth. He was quite odd looking, with all that barbaric jewelry and paint contrasted with the vinyl and armor of his Dragonslayer uniform.

"Get up," he ordered.

When Van remained stunned on the floor, Mercutio sent a kick to his side.

"I said GET UP!!!"

Van scrambled to his feet.

"Look at my face," Mercutio sneered. "Look at my face, don't you even remember me?"

Van backed away.

"LOOK AT ME, DON'T YOU EVEN REMEMBER KILLING ME!?!? DON'T YOU REMEMBER??!!! RIGHT AFTER YOU KILLED GUIMEL!!! RIGHT AFTER YOU KILLED GUIMEL, IT WAS ME!!!"

Mercutio's eyes went wide as he screamed, and the green irises all but disappeared in the white. Van lowered his head from the sight.

"LOOK AT ME!!!!"

Mercutio grabbed Van by the neck and lifted him off of the ground.

"AAAAaaaHAAAAaaaa!!! ARrrr!" Van tried to scream, but his voice was muffled.

"Look at me," Mercutio said again. "Look at what.... you've done to me."

His irises went back to their normal sizes, and Van could see that once those eyes were big and bright and emerald-colored. But he was no different than the others, and the brightness had faded into that familiar but always shocking dull hate.

"Mercutio.... Urai....," Van choked.

"Yes.... that was... my name."

"Extremely hy-hyper..., ener....getic, vulgar, loud, boisterous, re...bellious," Van whispered.
Mercutio released Van and the raven-hair boy collapsed on the floor with a sickening thump.

"Yes," Mercutio nodded. "I had...I had to take medication. Because.... I was so hyperactive."

Van rubbed his throat.

Mercutio fell to his knees and hunched over, palms on the floor.

"NOW LOOK AT ME!!!" he screamed.

Van stared, wide-eyed and stunned.

"LOOK AT ME!!! I'm not even... a man anymore!!" Mercutio said.

"YOU NEVER WERE!!!" Van yelled back.

Mercutio looked up sharply, and his eyes went wide again, horrible and fierce.

"What.... did you say?" Mercutio said ominously.

"I SAID YOU NEVER WERE A MAN!!!" Van shrieked.

Mercutio drew one arm across his side and swung it around, backhanding Van with such force that the king slammed against his desk, knocking over all the military files, papers scattering everywhere.

"I'm more of a man than you will ever be!!!!" Mercutio roared.

Van curled himself up into a ball.

"Look at you!!! Look at you, cowering like a child!!! I'm a man!!! I'M a man!!! You're nothing!!!"

Mercutio raised a balled fist and slammed it against the floor.

"YOU KILLED ME, you...!" Mercutio hung his head. "....you son of a whore."

"I'm sorry," Van said desperately.

Mercutio lifted his head and grinned that wolfish, evil, hideous grin.

"You think you're sorry now?" he said quietly.

Van stared.

Mercutio craned his head up at the ceiling and howled with laughter, white teeth gleaming eerily. He stretched his arms out on both sides of himself.

"You shouldn't have opened my file!!" he laughed. "You shouldn't have opened it!!"

And still, Van stared.

'My god,' he thought, 'he's insane.'

Mercutio lowered his head, and his irises were completely gone. His pupils were completely gone. His eyes were nothing but two voids of pure white. His mouth was flowing with blood, but it wasn't maroon. It was bright red, as fresh as it had been the day Van killed him. It was on his teeth, on his lips, trickling down his chin. Mercutio chuckled at the expression on Van's face.

"Gatti didn't try this?"

Van stared, in a state of utter shock.

Mercutio removed his boot.

"No!" Chesta shouted.

Mercutio growled, and turned around.

"Get away, Chesta," he said quietly.

"NO, don't hit him again, Mercutio."

"Chesta....," Van whispered, "I saw Migel...."

Both of the Dragonslayers turned sharply to Van.

"What did you say?" Mercutio snapped.

"Mi-Migel?" Chesta whimpered.

"I saw him....," Van said. "He told me.... that one day you would understand."

"You saw him?!? Migel-kun?!?!" Chesta shouted.

Van nodded.

"Where is he?!?! Where is Migel??!" Chesta said, screaming Migel's name at the room, as if Migel were hiding somewhere inside.

"He's not here anymore," Van said quietly.

Chesta's hopeful face fell sad.

"Where is he?"

"He's passed on," Van said.

"Nani?" Chesta's voice trailed weakly above a whisper.

"He said he'd see you again once you passed on," Van explained.

Chesta slowly sank to his knees, eyeing the floor.

"Migel....," he whispered, "It's been.... so long since I've seen Migel-kun..."
And then Chesta whispered, very quietly so that none of them heard, "Kareshi..."

Mercutio grimaced, and raised his heavy boot.

"No!" Chesta interjected sternly.

Mercutio growled. "What do you care if I hurt him or not? He killed us, remember?"

"What good will it do!" Chesta shouted.

Mercutio sneered.

"Don't you see?? This is pointless! You won't bring us back!"

Mercutio stood up and turned fiercely to Chesta.

"VENGENCE!! That's what I want!!"

"It doesn't matter!" Chesta yelled. "You won't change anything!"

"There will BE JUSTICE!!!"

"No there won't be! It'll just be one endless cycle of hate! Nothing will change!"

Mercutio had had enough of Chesta.

"Baka!!" he roared, raising his boot at the blonde Dragonslayer. He hurled it across the
room, and it sailed for Chesta's head. Van covered his eyes like a child. He heard a loud thumping sound as the heavy boot struck something.

"Nani??" he heard Mercutio utter. Van peeked through his fingers.

Someone with chestnut brown hair, wearing loose white clothing, was huddled over Chesta in the corner of the room.

He looked up at Mercutio with a stern frown, cradling a stunned Chesta in his arms. And the face that wore that stunned expression was no longer pale and bloody. Chesta's skin was the color of Migel's, and his hair was yellow-gold again. His eyes were big, and the brightest blue. His Dragonslayer uniform was gone, replaced by the same loose white clothing Migel was wearing. He was beautiful and radiant. So radiant that a faint white light glowed around him.

"Migel-kun!!" he cried. "Migel-kun! Migel-kun!"

Chesta threw one arm around Migel's neck and clutched the back of his head with the other hand, silky brown hair sticking out of the spaces between his fingers.

"Koishii...," Migel whispered. Neither Mercutio nor Van heard this.

"Migel-kun, Migel-kun, Migel-kun, Migel-kun...," Chesta gasped.

"What are you doing here?" Mercutio sneered.

"I've come to take him with me," Migel said.

"Take him where?" Mercutio demanded.

"He's not one of you anymore," Migel said, standing up, lifting Chesta off of the ground in the process. Chesta never loosened his grasp on the brunette, and Migel never objected.

"What do you mean!" Mercutio balled his fists. "Where are you taking him?!"

"He's made his peace. He understands that what you're doing is meaningless," Migel answered.

"No! No, it's not!" Mercutio cried desperately. "Don't take him! We've already lost....we've....we've already lost Dilandau-sama!!"

"You're losing yourselves," Migel replied quietly.

Mercutio stiffened his jaw. Van stared at them, bewildered.

"You were the loyal one!" Mercutio shouted. "You were the one who would have done anything for Dilandau! This is what Dilandau would have wanted!" He raised a hand and made a vengeful fist. "He would have wanted us to haunt him forever! He would have wanted to haunt him himself for that scar...for killing us and leaving him alone..."

"Good Mercutio....," Migel said calmly, "have enough courage to follow your own heart."

"My heart bleeds with hate for Van Fanel!"

Migel sighed. "Goodbye, Mercutio."

"NO!"

"Goodbye Van," Chesta said, peeking over Migel's shoulder.

"Chesta...," Van reached out for them. They were leaving him. They were the only ones who could help him, and they were leaving. "Migel!"

"DON'T YOU TAKE HIM, HIRETSUKAN!!!" Mercutio shrieked.
Migel pressed Chesta against his body. Chesta nuzzled his face against Migel's neck, and a blinding flash of white light surrounded them. Both Van and Mercutio turned away, and when they looked back at the spot where they had been standing, both of them were gone.

"Nooooo!"

Mercutio fell on his knees again, and slammed his fists against the floor.

"Goodbye....," Van whispered.

The door opened, and Celena poked her head in.

Mercutio looked up sharply.

"Dilandau-sama," he said in an awed whisper.

"Van?" she said.

"Yes?"

"Why are you... on the floor?"

Van attempted to hide the fresh bruise on his cheek.

"Dilandau-sama!" Mercutio cried from his crouch on the floor.

"Van?" she said.

"DILANDAU-SAMA!!! LOOK, HERE I AM!!" Mercutio shouted, like a child vying for attention.

"Celena..."

"I'm sorry I disobeyed you all those times, Dilandau-sama!! Please look at me!!!" Mercutio stood up and placed himself directly in front of Celena. She stared right through him, at Van.

"Van, who were you talking to?" she asked gently.

"DILANDAU-SAMAAAAA!!!"

"Mercutio," Van whispered.

Celena went pale. "What did you say?"

"Me!! Please, Dilandau-sama! Come back to us!" Mercutio pleaded.

"They're here, Celena," Van explained.

"Nani-"

"All of them. They all came back."